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Debate on pesticides lingers: Book: Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," published 40 years ago, changed the way Americans think about the chemicals. (Timothy B. Wheeler, September 27, 2002, Baltimore Sun)

"More than any other [book], it changed the way Americans, and people around the world, looked at the reckless way we live on this planet," Philip Shabecoff wrote in his history of U.S. environmentalism, A Fierce Green Fire.

Yet modern-day critics, while acknowledging Carson's eloquence, contend that Silent Spring created a paranoia about pesticides that exaggerates their hazards and prevents their use in controlling deadly insect-borne diseases, such as malaria and West Nile.

"She does have some blood on her hands," says Alex Avery, director of research for the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues. Avery contends that research has never shown DDT caused cancer or any other human health problem. He contends that there are questions about whether DDT is to blame for the steep decline in eagle, osprey and other raptor populations in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

DDT remains one of the most effective tools for fighting mosquitoes in developing countries where malaria is rampant, Avery says. Yet the pesticide's bad reputation - popularized by Silent Spring - has kept international agencies and foreign leaders from advocating its use. People concerned about the spread in this country of West Nile virus also have blamed Carson for the government's reluctance to resort to widespread spraying of mosquitoes.

It's pretty staggering to consider that there have been thirty to sixty million malaria deaths in the world since the EPA banned DDT use in 1972. Not many authors can lay claim to that kind of influence. Happy Anniversary, Ms Carson. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 28, 2002 2:46 PM